CREDO
“You are never lost.”
WHO THEY ARE
Mappers may not know who they are, but they always know precisely where they are…and everything else. In a universe filled with tumult and constant change, their challenge of cataloging and preserving spatial positioning is a daunting one. Mapping is an exacting combination of art, science, and intuition – one has to be able to discern the temporary from the permanent and know how to document what may be entirely alien to your eyes. Unfortunately for them, reality keeps changing all the time, undoing previous work and knowledge. As frustrating as this can be for a Mapper, it’s also a neverending reason to keep exploring and documenting.
JOINING
Any Origin World will have a Mappers Guild outpost where those interested in joining can take an assessment test or classes to prepare for it. This test covers:
- Your ability to accurately describe what you see
- Cartography basics
- How to measure and document permanent reality changes
Pass your assessment (it’s very generous and aimed at beginners) and you receive an invitation to join.
POWERS
All powers are once between Rests and take an Action to activate unless otherwise stated.
BASIC READING COMPREHENSION (LEVEL 1)
Mappers are vastly better at using maps than others. A Mapper will know instantly if they’ve gone off-track when moving towards a landmark they’ve chosen marked on a map. The map must have been created by a sentient being and be at least 80% accurate and does not have to have been created by a Mapper. This power is innate and always on.
WHERE AM I? (LEVEL 3)
The Mapper may identify precisely where they are in relation to the nearest familiar (must have previously visited physically) territory.
WHERE ARE YOU? (LEVEL 5)
The Mapper knows several potential routes to a team member or ally who is not at their current location. This knowledge doesn’t cover any potential risks, threats, or unknown changes since the area was last Mapped, but the Mapper will know if a route is geographically possible and what those routes entail from a traversal perspective.
FOLD THE PAPER (LEVEL 7)
You may move yourself and anyone you’re currently touching to another location you have previously Mapped regardless of any barriers or distances that might exist between here and there.
ALL I CAN SEE IS MINE TO COMMAND (LEVEL 9)
The Mapper can temporarily change reality to be easier to traverse. By drawing a Map of what they wish the terrain could be, they can change one feature of the current environment until they leave that World or destroy the Map. This has no impact on Resonance or any temporary, non-physical attributes (such as weather) and should be used carefully. This can include constructed alterations – a road over a bog or a dam blocking a river. Be prepared for consequences once your changes disappear. Just because the dam is gone doesn’t mean the water is.
GOALS
To move among the worlds is to know them, to reflect truth in our work and understand that truth is limited by time, to refresh our understanding again and again, to discover what is new, and to find a way for others no matter how terrible the ground.
REALITY IMPACT: MAINTAIN
Once reality is documented, it should stay as it is – a known environment can be controlled and a controlled environment is safer for everyone. The Mappers want to preserve things as they are. To change is to risk losing what you have and everyone has lost enough already. Not to mention, there’s so much we don’t know about our new reality. We need to learn about it before we go messing with it.
STRUCTURE
The Mappers have a loose hierarchy: more senior members spend at least part of their time teaching newer Mappers, but realistically, everyone needs to be out in the field as much as possible. Mappers are not only critical to expanding the knowledge base of CORSAIR but also occupy a key position within any search and rescue team. They’re not averse to structure, but there’s simply too much to do to care.
GUILDMASTER
Obriini, Tchanuula, UH10
Obriini is the rare Tchanuula who always knew what they wanted to do. They were born blinking a thousand different eyes, waving graceful, spindly limbs, ready to see and capture how the world was laid out around them. Tchanuul, with its endless islands to explore, provided excellent fodder for a growing Obriini, who eventually took on a position with the Division of Transportation in order to map out inter-island funicular routes. Cartography is second nature for Obriini and one could argue they were literally built for it.
After the Collapse struck, Obriini, a fresh Hand with but one Ring, worked tirelessly with the beginnings of CORSAIR to map routes between the Inner Worlds, rescue survivors, and push the boundaries of their magically-augmented cartographical powers.
Unfortunately, Obriini has been burned out for years and yet refuses to stop working. They take every dangerous mission they can, despite having no combat abilities, and are working on a method of Mapping the Threads and Outer Light. Nothing has succeeded so far, but that won’t stop them.
BENEFITS
Mappers are valuable allies and anyone who has heard of them will do their best to help. Sometimes this help can be a hindrance – not everyone is as accurate in their descriptions of local geography – but Mappers are overall received well wherever they go.
TITHES
Mappers are expected to turn over copies of every Map they create at the end of a Mission.
ACCORDS/TABOOS
REPLICATE THE PATH
ACCORD: Touching both a Map you’ve created and a blank surface, you can make a precise copy of that Map. This will cause one unsoakable point of damage.
TABOO: This copy must be given to someone else before your next rest.
NOTE: Unlike most Accords, this one may be performed as many times as the Mapper wishes, even unto death. However, only the first instance after a rest will provide a point of Luck.
TOPOGRAPHICAL CONNECTION
ACCORD: Deface a Map you’ve created in some way that represents a thing you’ve seen there – a sketch of a creature, the colour of the soil. This does not need to impinge the function of the Map in any way.
TABOO: If that Map is destroyed before your next rest, lose the point of Luck.
THRILL OF NEW LAND
ACCORD: Bury an inkstone or other ink source when you come across land that has yet to be Mapped by you.
TABOO: You cannot dig up or otherwise disturb what you buried.